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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 2011)
NEWS BRIEFS atrazine in the baselines samples taken in a doctor’s office in winter, before the spraying season. Owen says residents who were within one mile of a spray were asked to provide a second sample within 24 hours of possible exposure. Owen was one of those, and his urine showed a 31 percent increase in 2,4-D and a 129 percent increase in atrazine, according to tests done by Dana Barr of Emory University’s Environmental and Occupational Health Department. Barr, speaking to the board over the phone, said recent studies indicate that these chemicals linger in the body, stored in fat, longer than previously realized. Studies on atrazine have shown exposure can lead to impaired immune function and increased infection in aquatic wildlife; in studies on rats it interferes with hormone function and in studies on salamanders atrazine has been shown to act synergistically with other chemicals to increase their toxic effects by impairing the immune system. The chemical 2,4-D, an ingredient in Agent Orange, has been linked to cancer. Triangle Lake area complaints about the pesticide exposure have gone ACTIVIST ALERT • A grand opening and ribbon cutting at the Seneca Jones biomass incinerator is planned for 10 am Thursday, May 5, at the plant off Hwy. 99 in northwest Eugene. Protesters are expected to hold signs along the highway. Carpooling will be from Putters Pizza in the Gilbert Shopping Center on Hwy. 99. Find the protesters’ Facebook page at http://wkly. ws/125 • Colin Goddard, survivor of the Virginia Tech massacre, is on a national tour and will speak and show a video Living for 32 at 7 pm Thursday, May 5, at PLC 180 on the UO campus. Sponsored by the Survival Center. Goddard will also speak and show the video for free at 8:30 pm Monday, May 9, the Bijou Theater. Goddard survived four bullets in the school shooting and went on to join the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. His documentary shows how easy it is for anyone to buy a gun without identification or a background check. • Tax Fairness Oregon is sponsoring a town hall on the Oregon state budget at 7 pm Thursday, May 5, at LCC’s Forum, Building 17, rooms 308-309. “Unless we act now, precious taxpayer dollars will go to tax breaks for the wealthiest Oregonians,” say organizers. Panelists include Sens. Beyer, Edwards and Prozanski, and Reps. Barnhart, Beyer, Buckley, Holvey, Hoyle and Nathanson. • Ken Niles of the Oregon Department of Energy will speak on Northwest nuclear waste disposal at City Club of Eugene at 11:50 am Friday, May 6, at the Hilton 12th floor ballroom. See www.cityclubofeugene.org • Willamette Resources & Educational Network (WREN) will host a free public citizen scientist “Wetland Monitoring and Data Collection Day” from 9 am to 1 pm Saturday, May 7. Ages 16+ and RSVP by May 5. Meet at the Red House of the Wetland Partnership Office at 751 S. Danebo Ave. • The 12th annual Million Mom March to Prevent Gun Violence will begin at 2 pm Sunday, May 8, Mothers Day, at the EWEB Plaza fountain. Speeches will be followed at slant unheard by the Pesticide Analytical and Response Center of the Oregon Division of Agriculture’s Pesticide Division, Owen said. He said the exposure investigations ought to go through the Public Health Division so that there is no conflict of interest given that pesticide research funding mainly comes from the agricultural and chemical companies themselves. The Pitchfork Rebellion also has a petition with the EPA calling for buffers around homes, farms and schools and a study on pesticide drift in the Highway 36 area. Owen said the Board of Forestry’s response to the news of the pesticide in the bodies of the forestland dwellers was “the same old baloney.” He adds, “Even with proof we are still David fighting Goliath.” He says 20 schoolchildren from Triangle Lake School will be tested next for atrazine and 2,4-D. That, he says, will be “harder for the state of Oregon to ignore.” “They have to give a damn about school kids. Don’t they?” he asked. — Camilla Mortensen 2:30 pm by a march along the bike path to Owen Rose Garden for pie and music. Virginia Tech survivor Colin Goddard will join the event, which will also honor Eugene police officer Chris Kilcullen who was shot and killed by a handgun during a traffic stop April 22. Mayor Kitty Piercy is expected to speak, along with Hillary Johnson of Strong Schools, Strong Eugene. • The iMatter March organized by youth across the country to demand government action on global warming will include Eugene on Mother’s Day. Spencer Butte Middle School is organizing the local march with support from at least five other schools. The march will be from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Sunday, May 8, beginning at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, 125 East Eighth Ave. and ending at the U.S. Courthouse. Marchers are invited to join the Million Mom March nearby at EWEB Plaza. • Local sustainability activist Jan Spencer is bringing his West Coast speaking tour home with a local tour titled “Creating A Safer, More Secure and Healthier Neighborhood.” A half- day seminar will be from 1 to 5 pm Saturday, May 7, at the Unitarian Church, 477 E. 40th Ave. Next will be free talks at 7 pm Tuesday, May 10, at the United Lutheran Church, 2230 Washington St.; and at 7 pm Wednesday, May 18 at Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E. 29th Ave. Call Spencer at 686-6761 or see the full schedule is at www.suburbanpermaculture.org • A free “Evening for the Elliott” starts at 5 pm on May 10 at Cozmic Pizza (8th and Charnelton) when Cascadia Wildlands presents slides and a discussion of threats to the Elliott State Forest and ways for community members to plug in. • Afghan-American author Tamin Ansary will lecture at 7:30 pm Thursday, May 12, at LCC’s Center for Meeting and Learning, Building 19, main campus. Free and open to the public. Ansary will talk about his personal history, contrasting life in a highly conservative Islamic society to that in post- modern U.S. and explore such topics as the burqa and the position of women in Islamic society. • The memorial service April 29 for slain Eugene police officer Chris Kilcullen drove 6,000 people to tears. Even the toughest Eugene cops and most cynical reporters choked when looking at the officer’s young daughters. The service had some testimony that could make a Eugene liberal wince — the homophobic nicknames for the officer, the long comparison of Kilcullen to Jesus Christ, the digs at citizens for ever criticizing any officer, not a word about gun control, the powerful ceremonial militarism. But what shone through bright and clear in this rare public look behind the blue line was Kilcullen’s humanity. He really was a good guy — a goofy, gregarious regular fellow who loved heavy metal, cheap burritos and bike riding — but also an extraordinary man who saved lives. Anyone who’s seen a senseless vehicle accident scene littered with crumpled and blood- choking children knows that we would wreak even worse havoc on each other without diligent traffic cops. Chris Kilcullen truly was one of Eugene’s finest. Rest in peace, Officer Kilcullen. • Ballots and Voters’ Pamphlets have quietly landed in our mailboxes and they are easy to ignore. In fact, the Tea Party crowd would love to see a low turnout in the May 17 Special Election. But it’s time to stand up for public education. The debate over the school income tax measure is full of irony and twists. Conservatives on the Eugene City Council originally demanded that the tax apply equally to everyone, even the lowest wage-earners in town. The measure’s tax rates were adjusted to exclude low-income households but now conservatives are complaining that the measure would unfairly tax both the middle-class and the lowest wage-earners in town. The anti-tax “Citizens for Jobs and Schools” folks are also saying the tax would eliminate jobs and kill businesses — huh? By laying off more than 100 teachers and all the jobs their salaries support? Not logical. The campaigns have also had their share of fireworks and hair-yanking. A lawsuit, since pulled, was filed against Mark Callahan for making Mayor Kitty Piercy sound like she was against the tax, and Callahan has gone ballistic in defense of his deceptive quote in the Voters’ Pamphlet. And several novice school board candidates were left out of the city Voters’ Pamphlet because they heard the county wasn’t doing a Voters’ Pamphlet. Ouch. • Push-polling is one of the most deceptive tactics known in campaigning. We got a recorded survey call at home last week asking how we are going to vote on the income tax for schools. Seemed like a simple poll, but after we pushed 1 for yes, the recorded voice asked something to the effect of, “Do you think it’s fair that the city wants to tax you but can’t tell you how the tax will be collected or how it will be spent? If you think this is fair, press 1.” Similar misleading questions and false statements followed. Another robo-call was from Jennifer Solomon inviting us to join a live chat about the tax. We listened for a while, but only heard anti-government, anti-public school rants from screened callers, and Solomon urging them on, saying, “You are absolutely right!” • Now that we finally got Osama bin Laden after 10 years of randomly invading countries, we should at long last declare victory and bring the troops home. The successful focused strike on bin Laden should bring the war against the “terrorism” noun back to reality. If we could do this kind of focused police action in a country harboring the murderer without invading now, why didn’t we do it a decade ago, saving countless hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars? If we don’t bring the troops home now, many in this country and abroad will rightly wonder what the hell we are fighting for. Is this just about keeping military spending and politicians intact by fighting a perpetual war that creates more and more enemies to fight? It clearly was for George W. Bush, who famously said he was “truly not that concerned” about finding bin Laden and exploited the 9/11 tragedy to attack Iraq. Obama should quickly seize this moment of national unity and pride, declare a real “mission accomplished” and end the senseless, endless waste of mountains of money and rivers of blood in Iraq and Afghanistan. • We featured grafted tomatoes on the cover of our Digs home and garden issue March 3 and now we hear Log House Plants’ grafted “Mighty ’Mato” will be making its debut appearance at the Oregon Plant Fair 2011, along with other Northwest specialty plants. The big event is from 9 am to 2 pm Saturday, May 7, at the picnic shelters in Alton Baker Park. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the OSU Lane County Extension Service Master Gardeners program. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com LANE AREA SPRAY SCHEDULE • ODOT: highway spraying in District 5 (Lane County) was delayed, now to begin May 2, depending on weather (web search for Notices/ODOT/2011). Call District 5 at 744-8080 or (888) 996-8080 for herbicide application information. ODOT spraying has already started in other parts of Oregon. Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, www.forestlanddwellers.org fl ying out of pdx? City 2 City S H U T T L E International Gifts, Jewelry & Museum Reproductions 857 Willamette St. | 541•654•0822 | www.meenaimports.com WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM $ 59 PDX EUG to ay 1-w Service to and from PDX Serving Eugene, Albany & Salem Reserve Now! 541-758-8001 www.city2cityshuttle.com let us do the driving EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 5, 2011 11
